A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder
by Nanashi-tenshi
Summary: The Fourth Hokage forgot to take one thing into account when he sealed the Kyuubi inside Naruto, he was only sealing the Kyuubi's power. How will Naruto cope with having a voice in the back of his head and a chibi Kitsune that only he can see?
1. Chapter 1

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

A/N-This is my first attempt at writing any fan fiction story. I hope you all enjoy it and give me a lot of feedback about how I can improve!

BIG THANKS TO PYRAKITT! For telling me that my story link wasn't working! I owe you!

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi talking"**

'_Thoughts'_

"It's my turn to watch the brat." A cloaked figure informed his companion as he silently entered the white room. "Your shift is over for now, Ichiro, so go turn in your mission report." His eyes swiftly checked the room for any traps or threats that might be lurking around.

"You know you don't have to do that, Katsu." His partner told him exasperatedly, "I mean it's not like I would actually let something happen to the monster. No matter how much I may want my revenge, a mission is a mission." He sounded faintly annoyed when he said this part.

"Any changes you need to report?" Katsu asked as his companion, Ichiro, started to leave the room. Ichiro stopped with one hand reaching out for the door handle. Without turning he answered in a quiet voice.

"I'm not sure if it's important, but I did notice something strange." He finally turned around and spared a glance at the last figure in the room. It was a small child with blonde hair and blue eyes that was playing with a small stuffed animal. "Earlier he just stared at his toy without blinking for five minutes straight." Even though he was talking to Katsu his gaze didn't leave the small child.

"You mean that he just sat still for five minutes without blinking or making a noise?" Katsu asked doubtfully. The child was only two years old; it should be throwing tantrums and breaking things. Not acting like a docile little lamb that could do no wrong.

"I know it sound strange, and believe me it freaked me out but I swear Katsu for a minute there…" He trailed off a little unsure if he should continue what he was saying.

"What?" Katsu encouraged his companion to continue; now his curiosity was peaked.

"For a minute there," Ichiro continued in a whisper, "It was almost like he was listening to it and having a conversation with his _toy_." His eyes were wide with wonder and maybe a little fear. Katsu looked deeply into Ichiro's eyes; his friend was not wearing his mask because this mission didn't require secrecy. After a few moments he quickly turned away and hid his face from his friend.

"What's wrong Katsu?" Ichiro asked worried about his friend's reaction. Then he noticed how Katsu's shoulders were shaking and heard muffled chuckles. "Are you laughing at me?" He demanded incredulously.

"I'm sorry Ichiro it's just the look on your face when you said it." He answered through muffled laughter "_having a conversation with his toy._" He mimicked, still laughing quietly. "Seriously, if you don't want me to laugh at you then start wearing your mask."

Ichiro threw his hands up in exasperation, "Fine, don't listen to me. I mean what would I know anyway?" He walked out of the room shaking his head. "Honestly! Can't take anything seriously." He muttered to himself as he closed the door.

With that Katsu turned to his duty, his mission. To keep 24 hour surveillance on Uzumaki Naruto the vessel that held the Kyuubi. Not only to protect everyone from it if it broke out again but also to protect it from the people. Though why the Hokage wanted to protect a monster, he'd never know.

A small figure waddled down a long passageway. His small tuft of blonde hair bobbed along as he explored the depths of this strange and mysterious new place. His wide blue eyes probed deep into the shadows as he tried to figure out where he was.

He had never been outside of his room before but he seen lots of pretty pictures in some books that he had. But this place didn't look anything like the pictures, they were all pretty and colorful, this place was just dark and mysterious. Also there was nothing to show that he had actually moved at all after all that walking. There was just a hallway as far as he could see.

After walking for a long time his feet started to hurt, he had never needed to walk farther than from one wall of the room to the other. He sat down right where he was standing, making a small squishy sound as his diaper cushioned his fall. Grabbing his foot, he looked at it from all angles trying to figure out why it was hurting. Then, for the first time he noticed that something was blowing against him. He looked around trying to find out what it was but there was nothing there.

As the small boy sat there he realized that he didn't know how to get back to his room. He was lost, his feet hurt, and he was starting to get really, really cold. So he did the only thing he could do. He cried.

He let out a constant wail using all of his lung power to its fullest. Tears streamed down his face as he cried the loudest, hardest, and longest that he had.

"**Will you just SHUT UP!" **a voice cried from the other end of the tunnel. Looking up the small boy hiccupped and stopped crying instantly. He quickly forgot about the pain in his feet as he scurried off to find this new, mysterious person. As he waddled down the tunnel he noticed a faint orange tint at the end and sped up until he was running, for the first time in his life.

When he got to the end of the tunnel he skidded to a stop so quickly that he fell back on his butt. He looked up at the thing in front of him and up, and up and up. It was HUGE. It was a bright orange stuffed animal that had a snout and lots of tails. (He probably couldn't even count that high!) One big eye was pressed against the bars as the creature looked at the small human offspring in front of it.

"**You gotta name kid?"** It asked as it eyed him up. The little boy looked up at the big toy in front of him (that talked!) and pouted innocently.

"What a name?" he asked in a cute broken dialect that only children are able to achieve. The large toy regarded the child before rephrasing its question.

"**What do people call you?"** The small boy's face instantly brightened as he responded, eager to please his new 'friend'.

"Monster!" He chirped beaming up in pleasure. His face immediately became downcast when the creature in front of him growled.

**"What else do they call you?" **It tried again.

"Brat!" Was his equally useless answer.

**"Do they call you anything else?" **It was having trouble keeping its temper in check no.

"Old man says Naruto-kun!" The creature in front of him grinned, showing all of its teeth. 'Naruto-kun' beamed up oblivious to the razor sharp teeth less than a foot away from him.

"**It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-kun. My name is Kyuubi." **Kyuubi looked down at the innocent child in front of her. So pure and simple. And so easy to bend and manipulate for her purposes.

Soooo whaddaya think? I need to ask do you guys think Kyuubi should be a girl or a boy? I'm not really sure which I should do…… but anyway

REVIEW!

If you don't review than I'll think that nobody is reading it. If nobody is reading it than I have no reason to continue. So that mean

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	2. Nekochan

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I realized I didn't put this in my first chapter. So I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. Or ever for that matter.

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

I've got my review responses at the end of this chapter. Oh, and I'm looking for a Beta! I really need someone to pre-read my chapters and check for mistakes.

"Ky-uu-bi" The small child mimicked, trying the new word for the first time. "Kyuubi! Kyuubi! Kyuubi!" He beamed up at the huge form in front of him proud of his accomplishment.

"**Yes Kyuubi. Good job." **His new friend congratulated him. (Sarcastically, not that poor Naruto-kun knows that) "**Now Naruto-kun I need your help with something." **When he heard that his new friend needed his help Naruto stopped his little chant and listened intently. "**You see Naruto-kun I'm locked up right now." **Kyuubi struggled to phrase this in a way that the small child could understand.

"**And if you want to be able to play with me you have to do something first. Will you help me?" **The child's bright blue eyes widened, his new friend was locked up like bad person? Then he nodded his head vigorously, he do anything to help his friend.

"**Right" **Kyuubi said trying to think her plan out. "**Your chakra channels are usually developed around your age but because you have my chakra as well it could take as long as two extra years to fully mature. That means that I'll need to be tied to a container until they have developed completely." **She looked down at the boy's clueless face and sighed to herself. Children were so useless. But still she held hope for this child and for that she was willing to suffer its ignorance.

"**Do you have a toy that you play with a lot?" **She asked, trying her best to sound like she wasn't annoyed with him.

"Neko-chan!" He answered in a voice about ten decimal louder than it needed to be and about an octave higher. But now she had the information that she need. It's not like she needed her ears anyway, right?

"**Okay Naruto-kun, I need you to picture 'Neko-chan' as clearly as you can. Can you do that for me?" **Kyuubi instructed while gathering the chakra needed for what she was about to do. While his chakra channels might not be fully developed, if he acted as a focus Kyuubi could leak enough chakra through to finish the transfer. "**Okay, are you picturing 'Neko-chan as clearly as you can?" **Naruto nodded his head, keeping his eyes closed so that he wouldn't loose the image.

Kyuubi leaked through the largest amount of chakra she could without Naruto's natural chakra fighting it. It was only a matter of time now.

Katsu watched as the small boy in front of him seemed to zone out. Maybe Ichiro was right. That was not natural. He tucked his book away in one of his many ninja secret hiding spots and walked over to the boy. Crouching down he looked at the boys eyes carefully.

He drew back sharply, almost giving himself whiplash and scrambled away from the small child. But his eyes remained locked on the inhuman ones of the child in front of him. Bright blue eyes were glazed over and seemed to be looking into the distance. But more importantly there were red streaks running through the blue of his eyes and his pupil was that of a cats.

Ichiro was right, something was definitely wrong with this kid. Then the boy turned his head to face Katsu without really looking at him.

"Neko-chan?" he asked and Katsu was unsure of whether to the brat was talking to him or whatever it was he was seeing. "Neko-chan!" the child demanded, angry at the lack of response. He banged his arms on the floor in a small tantrum before calming himself down. Then he decided to try a different approach. He reached out tiny arms towards Katsu as if to grab something that wasn't there.

Panicking Katsu scanned the room for whatever it was the boy wanted. There, lying on top of the toy chest was a small stuffed cat. It was all black with a blue bow tied around its neck and wide blue eyes. Grabbing the small toy Katsu placed it in the child's hands and watched as the child drew it close to his chest.

Realizing that for now the brat had calmed down Katsu dared to get closer and try to identify what was wrong with the kid. When he got closer he noticed the slow, even breathing and sighed to himself. That brat had fallen asleep! He picked the boy up and carried him over to the small bed before returning to his post.

Settling down he pulled out his book and tried to get comfortable. His shift wouldn't end for another couple hours and he wasn't allowed to leave the boy alone even if it was to report an important new discovery.

He never noticed that the red slowly drained from Naruto's eyes, leaving them once again their pure, innocent blue. So absorbed in his book was Katsu that he didn't see the eyes of the small toy absorb the red until they were purely crimson and no longer looked quite so innocent.

It was a strange sensation that Kyuubi experienced when she took over her new body. It wasn't a gradual change where she slowly became aware of the world around her. One second she was in her small, damp cell with her nine tails flared out behind her and only the smell of mold and the sound of water dripping keeping her company. Then without even blinking her eyes she was in an entirely different world.

The room was blindingly white with only a small bed in one corner and a toy box pushed against the wall. The contrast of the black against the white easily drew her eye to the ANBU leaning against the door. From the corner of her eye she could make out the left side of his body without turning her head. It was when she tried to get a clearer view that she realized that something was wrong.

She couldn't move. She was trapped inside a stuffed animal that had no bones or muscles to support her or help her move. There wasn't even any way that she could use chakra strings to manipulate the toy because she couldn't use any chakra until that brat's chakra tunnels finished developing.

She had the strange feeling that she would be growling now if she had a vocal cord. Sighing Kyuubi stared at the glaringly white wall in front of her, it was going to be a long two years.


	3. You Spin Me

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. Or ever for that matter.

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

I need a beta! I'll leave it at that.

(Scene Break)

Naruto sighed contently in his sleep as he pulled his Neko-chan closer to his face. He nuzzled into the small stuffed animal and easily gave up his pillow in favor of using his toy. His white sheets were bunched up at the foot of his bed due to all of the tossing and turning he had done while asleep.

Naruto loved to sleep because in his dreams he could do things that he could never hope to do in real life. In his dreams he would go outside and run, and never stop running just enjoying the freedom of knowing that there was no limit. In his dreams he would be strong and everyone would love him and care for him. In his dreams Naruto was loved.

Which was why he was not happy when he was awakened. He would often cry and scream when someone woke him up. They never understood his strange tantrums, they could never know how when they woke him up they were destroying his one joy in life. And since there was such a big contrast between his dreams and reality it was a painful shock to his system to be jerked back into the world where he could only travel a couple feet instead of countless miles he would cry. He would cry really loud, really really loud. Okay, he would shriek at the top of his lungs at a painful volume that could shatter eardrums.

And that would explain why Ichiro didn't want to wake him up.

"Come on Ichiro," Katsu urged from his position in the doorway, far enough away to escape unscathed, hopefully. "Don't be such a wimp. What can a three-year old do to one of the top Konoha ANBU?" He goaded his friend mercilessly.

"If it's so simple and easy then why don't you do it?" Ichiro shot back angrily as he glared at his friend. "I mean he's only a three-year old so you shouldn't have any trouble." He bit out sarcastically motioning for Katsu to awaken the boy.

Katsu merely smiled back at him with an overly cheerful grin, "Well, I might have but you see my turn with the brat ended over an hour ago and he's your responsibility till I take over again." He leaned against the doorway enjoying watching his friend sweat this out.

"Okay Ichiro" He chanted to himself encouragingly "The worst he could do is burst your eardrums with his wailing. Or beat you over the head with a stuffed animal. You can do this." He gained confidence with each word until he felt he was ready to wake up the child.

He gently shook Naruto's shoulder not sure whether or not he really wanted the boy to wake up. "Hey brat, wake up." Ichiro said softly. "C'mon wake up!" he said louder as he shook the boy harder. Naruto's only response was to roll away from Ichiro and absentmindedly swat in his general direction. Deciding to try out a trick that his mother had always used on him Ichiro grabbed onto Naruto's blanket and jerked it off of his bed.

Naruto's small form shivered slightly before curling into a fetal position. That was when Ichiro noticed that he was holding something in his hands. "Hey, what's this?" He asked no one in particular as he reached out and grabbed the object in the boys hand. "Hey Katsu, did you buy the Kid this?" He asked his companion as he pulled the toy from the boy's death grip.

Katsu looked at Ichiro strangely before replying. "No, he's had that toy forever. Don't you remember? It was a birthday present from the Hokage or something." He didn't really care about the Kid's toys but he still remembered them.

"That can't be right Katsu," Ichiro objected insulted that his friend thought so lowly of him "That cat had blue eyes and a blue ribbon around its neck." Turning around he showed the toy to his friend. "This one has red eyes and a purple bow."

Katsu's eyes widened when he saw how dark the once innocent looking toy was. "Hurry and wake up the Kid, we need to report this to the Hokage immediately." He ordered, his once joking manner long gone. He walked the few steps to his friend's side and grabbed the toy out of his hand before strolling back to the doorframe. "Well, what are you doing? Who cares if the Kid isn't happy when he wakes up, this is big."

His words made Ichiro start a little at how cold he sounded. Feeling low and foolish he turned back to the bed and locked gazes with the boy he was supposed to awaken. "Where Neko-chan?" The Kid asked and Ichiro felt a tug at his heart at how innocent the Kid looked.

"Katsu has Neko-chan right now." He assured in a soothing voice. "We're going to go somewhere and he doesn't want you to lose him." The lie came to him easily; you didn't get to be an ANBU without losing at least some of your morals along the way. "So hurry and get dressed and if you're a good boy Katsu will give Neko-chan back later." He semi-promised the Kid, not sure if they would ever actually give the toy back to him.

Naruto looked up at him wide-eyed and Ichiro tried to think about what he had said that might startle the small child that was in his care. "Are we going…. Outside?" Naruto whispered as if afraid that if he talked too loud the dream would shatter and he would once again wake up and realize that he would never go outside.

Ichiro was startled by the question, had they actually never taken the Kid outside? He never really noticed what the Kid actually did when he was watching him just checked for hidden traps and made sure that Kyuubi didn't come out. How could a child go so long without actually going outside? To never feel the wind on their face or… God, had the child ever even seen or felt the sun?

Looking down at the hopeful face Ichiro knew that there was no way that he could refuse the Kid's request. "Of course we will." He promised, and if the Hokage said they couldn't then he would kidnap the kid if he had to. Not even the worst criminals deserved that kind of torture and here they were doing it to an innocent child.

The Kid broke out in a smile so wide Ichiro had to wonder why they never noticed that all he ever did was frown. While the Kid hurried to get changed out of his pajamas Ichiro went to stand next to Katsu.

"Has he really never gone outside?" Katsu asked as he watched the Kid pull on a bright orange shirt backwards. "Have we really been so heartless and cruel?" Ichiro was startled at how much self-loathing he could hear in Katsu's voice.

"Yeah, I think we have." Ichiro responded startling Katsu with his easy acceptance. "But starting right now we're going to make up for it." He flashed Katsu a grin. "Do you think we could forgive ourselves for our past mistakes by giving the kid a head start?" He asked, eyes dancing with amusement at the plans he was already forming in his head.

"Yeah, maybe." Katsu responded catching on to what Ichiro was planning. "No nin-justsu's in case his chakra tunnels aren't fully developed yet but, I could probably get my hands on some practice kunai." The Kid was now struggling to put his left sandal on his right foot and when it wouldn't go on he pouted innocently at the offending object.

Katsu walked over and helping him put the sandal on the correct foot and couldn't help but wonder when did he actually start caring about the Kid? Last year he was sure he would have sneered at the pathetic attempt on the child's part and gone on about how a "monster like him didn't deserve help" but here he was acting like a caring brother who was helping out because his mother made him, but who really cared about the younger child.

(Meanwhile with poor Kyuubi)

_'What does this idiot think he's doing?' _She grumbled to herself as she enjoyed her lovely view of the floor. And what a wonderful floor it was. It was white just like the rest of the room and shiny. Kyuubi got the feeling that if they could have, her eyes would have burned out of her sockets due to the pure shininess of the light reflecting off of the mind-numbingly white floor.

Then the monster that was holding her shifted his grip on her tail, yes _her tail. _What kind of monster holds a cat by their tail? Well, she might not be able to feel any pain from it but it was so degrading. Then all thoughts fled from her mind as the idiot that was holding her decided he was bored of waiting so what does he do to entertain himself? He started swinging her around by her tail in circles. Around and around and around.

_'Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick…wait can a stuffed animal be sick?' _Kyuubi's thoughts were jumbled due to the constant motion and her last thought before I end the chapter…. Er I mean she lost consciousness was '_If I don't die monster, you will. And I'll enjoy it! Ohhh my stomach, but I don't have a stomach. Ahhh my head. The confusion! End the chapter already!'_

And so the chapter ended.

Sorry I just wanted to have a little bit of fun picking Kyuubi at the end because she really wasn't in this chapter and I didn't want you guys to think I had forgotten about her or anything. And I need a beta! Honestly, why doesn't anyone want to be my beta! And the usual

REVIEW!


	4. Venture Into the Unknown

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. Or ever for that matter.

Thanks Ookami Youma for beta-ing this chapter! Thank you for getting it back so fast!

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

(Break)

Naruto watched as Katsu open the door in what seemed like slow motion. He had seen the door opened and closed so many times before but this time it seemed unreal. Clutching Ichiro's hand Naruto shuffled toward the now open door and stopped in the doorway, bracing himself for the new world that he was about to enter. Ichiro squeezed his hand silently reassuring him that everything would be alright.

Suddenly realizing exactly how close he was to the world outside Naruto could not hold himself back from leaping through the doorway and landing less than gracefully on the ground outside. Ichiro steadied him as he almost fell over due to never having jumped like that before in his life. Wide blue eyes peered around at the outside world and he couldn't but help being disappointed with what he saw.

White walls formed a hallway that led to and equally white door. The floor was the same as the one in his room and there were no other people around. Were they all in their rooms right now? But there were no other doors in the hallway that could lead to their rooms. When Katsu saw the Kid's disappointed look he couldn't help the small, wry smile that formed on his face before he slipped on his mask and prepared to go to the Hokage's office.

Ichiro slipped his own mask onto his pale slender face from never being in the sunlight. With his mask he could feel the ANBU persona slip on and spread through his entire body. His stance shifted to that of a predator and his eyes darted around the hallway as if in search of enemies. His hand that was gently cradling the Kid's much smaller hand tightened and became firm in order to keep him from trying to run away.

Katsu lead the small group out of the back door in the ANBU building and locked it behind his two companions. Ichiro gave his partner a small nod to show that he was ready before they braved the streets of Konoha.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw what it looked like outside of his room. There was so much color! He was surprised to notice that the building his room was in was black on the outside, the complete opposite of how it looked on the inside. There were trees everywhere with trunks so tall that he couldn't even reach the lowest branch on the smallest one. Everything seemed so much smaller in the books he had seen. With wide eyes he tried to absorb all of the new things that he saw at once, but it was too much for his young mind to take in at once. And then he looked up.

As far as he could see the blue sky spread over the land with large puffy clouds lazily gliding across. Then he saw something that he had never seen in any of his books it was in the sky and it looked really big and bright and if he looked at it too long it hurt his eyes.

"Ichiro," he tugged on said persons sleeve without pulling his gaze away from the strange new sight. Ichiro merely grunted to show he was listening so Naruto took that as an invitation to continue, "What's that?" He asked pointing up at the object in the sky. It was not, however Ichiro who answered him.

"That's the sun, Kid" Katsu informed him from where he was on Naruto's other side. His gaze was sweeping over the street they were walking through as if he was trying to find any threats. Naruto was surprised at how colder the older man suddenly sounded. But when he looked up to figure out what was wrong all he could see was the mask that was emotionless, like Katsu's voice.

"What's that?" Naruto asked pointing at a random object that he couldn't identify, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"A shop booth." Was Ichiro's equally emotionless answer.

"And that?" He asked pointing again.

"A restaurant." Katsu supplied.

"And that?" He was enjoying this way too much.

"A fence."

"And what about that one?" he asked giving the newest one a strange look. It was really weird.

"Some random genin." Ichiro stated without pausing in his stride.

"What!" came the incredulous voice of the genin from behind them as he angrily shook his fist at their back. "I'd like to see you say that to my face!" he yelled pointing at Ichiro angrily. "I'm not 'some random genin' I'm the genin that can beat all of my enemies with my power of youth!"

He clenched his fist and his eyes burned with flames as he got way too caught up in his 'power of youth'. Then he realized that the offending people were gone. His sweat dropped before returning to his genin group with a sigh. Why wouldn't anyone take him seriously?

Naruto glanced back at the figure as they walked away. "He was scary," he told Katsu with a shudder as he remembered the thick eyebrows and creepy haircut.

Katsu's small smile was hidden behind his mask as he shook his at his small charge. The smile dropped off of his face when he noticed Ichiro shift his grip on his kunai before letting it fly with ease that came from years of practice. He followed the path to find what his friend had attacked. When he saw what it was he couldn't help but sigh.

On the side of the road was a figure with brown hair up in a ponytail and a scar across his nose. In one hand he held several rotten tomatoes but the other hand was empty but was held as if to throw something in their direction. And pinned to the wall with Ichiro's kunai was another rotten tomato. Naruto continued looking around at the world he was now in, oblivious to what the older boy had tried to do. Katsu pulled Naruto along at a faster pace. He wanted to get to the Hokage's office before someone else thought to start throwing something more dangerous than rotten fruit.

The Kid was completed unphased with the faster pace he was setting and simply starting skipping to keep up with the older men's long strides. He didn't notice the glares that all the villagers were sending his way or the way that the Hokage's guards tensed up and tightened their grips on their weapons before letting them through. He was too busy watching the birds flit about and listening to their beautiful song. He was pulled roughly back to reality when he was lead into a room. He didn't want to go into another room!

He surprised Ichiro when he started struggling with his eyes locked on the door in front of him. He tried to run away but Ichiro's grip on his hand was too strong. They were just giving him a glimpse of the outside world! He wanted, no needed, to see more of it. Katsu noticed his dilemma and bent down as if to tell the boy a big secret.

"If you're a good boy while we're in here I'll buy you some ramen when we're done." He promised the Kid lifting his mask so that he could look the boy in the eyes. The boy relaxed and stopped struggling.

"So we not stay long?" He wanted to confirm. Katsu nodded and Naruto seemed to think it over before asking one more question, "What ramen?" He asked completely serious as he looked Katsu straight in the eye.

"Let's see," Katsu said to himself as he stepped back a little. He scratched his ear as he thought how to explain the nature of ramen to a small child. "It's noodles and umm tastes really good." He trailed off when he noticed Ichiro shaking with laughter. He glared at his companion for a second before turning back to the Kid. "Well anyway, it tastes really good and you'll like it," he finished lamely.

The Kid looked at him solemnly before smiling brightly, "Okay!" He agreed and grabbed Katsu's hand and rushed into the building. Ichiro followed behind them smiling slightly under his mask. He smiled way too often when he was around the Kid. He just had that affect on people, even the usually heartless murderers that Katsu and he were.

Naruto sat in his chair as he watched Katsu and Ichiro talk with the old man that would visit him every once in a while. At first he had amused himself by looking at all the interesting things that were lying around in the office but now he was getting bored! How long could grown-ups talk to each other without getting bored anyway? This ramen better be worth it. Curling up on the comfy chair he was in Naruto blocked out the voices of the older men and quickly fell asleep.

"Is he finally asleep?" Katsu asked Ichiro when he noticed the Kid slump over. Ichiro walked over and checked to make sure that Naruto was really asleep. He nodded to confirm that the boy had finally gone to sleep. Then he walked over to the Hokage's desk and withdrew the stuffed cat from where it had been hiding in his robes.

"What do you make of this?" He asked, practically shoving the small toy in the Hokage's face. The cat's lifeless eyes stared at some point on the ceiling as it lay on the desk. Sarutobi frowned as he looked over the changes that had occurred to the small cat.

"When I gave this to Naruto it had blue eyes and a blue bow." He stated as he turned the small toy and looked at its plastic red eyes and deep purple bow.

"**Put me down you worthless old man!" **Kyuubi growled angry at her situation. The monster had finally stopped spinning her around only to stuff her in a constricting pocket in his cloak that smelled like cabbage! What kind of respectable ANBU smelled like cabbage anyway? And now this old man was looking at her like she was some kind of lab rat!

None of the older men showed any signs of hearing her but the small boy twitched slightly in his sleep. Sarutobi poked and prodded at poor Kyuubi as he tried to figure out what had caused the change in appearance. With a sigh he set the small toy cat back onto his desk.

"I don't sense any kind of jutsu on this toy." He told the two ANBU in front of him. "And there's no way that the Kyuubi could break out of the seal. So while this may be slightly disturbing there shouldn't be any danger from him keeping his toy." His voice was distracted as he tried to think of a jutsu that Kyuubi could use while sealed. There were none.

"**I'm not just some kind of toy!" **Kyuubi exclaimed angrily but once again went unnoticed. "**I didn't leave that cage just to be stuck in a pathetic stuffed animal." **Now that she thought about it she didn't even know what her new vessel looked like. She hoped she didn't look cute or, God forbid, cuddly.

"Neko-chan?" Naruto's small voice came slurred slightly from his sleep. The loud voice had woken him from his nap. He slid off of his chair and shuffled over to the desk before grabbing his precious Neko-chan and hugging it to his chest. Ichiro went to grab the toy from the Kid's hands worried about what it might do to him but was stopped by the Hokage.

"Let him keep his toy," Sarutobi said in a low voice. "It's harmless, and he could be crushed if you tried to take away his only friend. Ichiro nodded as he looked at the Kid's happy face and the smile that was on his whiskered cheeks.

"Katsu?" Naruto asked looking up at the older man, "Can we go get some of this 'ramen' now?" Katsu smiled and almost agreed before he remembered something.

"Why don't you and Ichiro go ahead and I'll catch up when I'm done here." He suggested with a small smile that was visible due to him having taken off his mask. Naruto looked at the older man suspiciously before deciding that adults talked way too much and nodding his agreement. He walked out of the room with Ichiro, holding onto the older man's hand and ran ahead in his excitement to try something new.

"What can I do for you Katsu?" Sarutobi asked once the pair was out of hearing range. What did Katsu want to talk about that he couldn't in front of one or both of the other two?

"Well Ichiro and I were talking," he began, praying that Sarutobi would agree, "and we want to train the Kid now so that he can protect himself from any dangerous villagers." Of course that wasn't the only reason, the kid just needed to get out more and they needed an excuse.

Sarutobi seemed to realize the hidden reason behind the training but it was still a difficult situation. "Katsu, the child is only three years old." He objected even though he wanted to agree and let the boy enjoy the outdoors.

"Hokage-sama, excuse me for saying so but I don't think the villagers care how old the Kid is, there are still some who would willingly attack a small child in order to get revenge." He defended his cause with ease. He had had some of the same issues running through his head as he thought about.

Sarutobi considered what he said for a moment before relenting. "I expect him to use practice kunai until I proclaim him good enough to use real weapons and no jutsus, his chakra tunnels aren't fully developed yet." He compromised.

"Agreed." Katsu gave a small bow before rushing to catch up with his two companions a small smile on his face. He really needed to stop smiling; it ruined his image as a daunting ANBU. He paused and thought about what he had just thought to himself. That was what his mask was for. So he slipped his mask off and disappeared into the heart of the village of Konoha.

I hope you enjoyed the first beta-ed chapter of A Kitsune on My Shoulder! Is it just me or is it annoying how little Kyuubi has been in these chapters. I wanna write about Kyuubi!(wails) Anyway on to the review responses (I swear this is my favorite part!)


	5. The Playground

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. Or ever for that matter.

Music I'm listening to: Defying Gravity from the Wicked Soundtrack

So I know that Kakashi became a chuunin when he was like, six but for the sake of my story he will be a twelve-year-old genin. Just a heads up.

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

(Break)

"YUMMY!" Ichiro winced at the volume that the Kid seemed to find necessary when proclaiming exactly how much he loved this strange, new food. Katsu, who was descending from the rooftops next door stopped running in favor of clamping his hands over his ears. Who needed to teach the Kid to protect himself? One scream like that and the enemy would be down for the count. Shaking off the after-effects of the painful blow to his ears Katsu joined his teammates at the Ichiraku ramen shop.

"I'm glad you like it, Kid." Katsu commented as he slid into the seat on the other side of his charge. Trying not to laugh at the painful look on Ichiro's face (after all, he had been right next to the Kid) Katsu motioned over the old man so that he could order.

"It's yummy…" Naruto trailed off looking at his stuffed animal "but Neko-chan says that if I eat too much I'll get sick. It that true?" Startled, Katsu glanced at the stuffed animal that the Kid had carefully placed on the table next to him. No, it couldn't be, after all it was perfectly normal for a child his age to talk to his toys. Especially when they were never around people their age.

"Hey Kid," Katsu said distractedly as he got an idea. Naruto looked up at him, noodles hanging from his mouth as he slurped it up at record breaking speeds. "Do you want to go to the park today before we head back?" he asked, now determined to give the Kid anything he could in order to make up for the things he had done.

'_What's a park?' _Naruto wondered, hurriedly slurping the noodles that were hanging from is mouth. Before he could form the question though, there was an answer.

**"A park is where young kit's go to play."** Kyuubi responded to Naruto's unvoiced query. **"And if you do go to the park then you better not leave me there or lose me." **There would have been an unspoken 'or else' at the end if it weren't for the fact that he was talking to a three-year old human child. As it was Naruto simply smiled and jumped into Katsu's unsuspecting arms.

"Yes!" he squealed as he latched his arms around Katsu's neck. Then he leaped from his chair and grabbed one of Katsu's hands to lead him away. He was bouncing as he dragged the older man away to the park.

Behind them the ramen shop owner poked poor Ichiro with one of the many chopsticks that were lying around. "Eh, aren't you gonna go with your friends?" The owner asked as he continued to prod the ANBU. Ichiro looked up at the man who was poking him uncomprehendingly. "Well, you're just gonna sit here? Too lazy to join them I bet. Oh, and the bill came up to… Hey are you even listening to me?" The ramen owner was getting angry by the end.

Ichiro looked at the man in front of him and spoke clearly and, well, loudly "CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?" The ramen owner just gave Ichiro a funny look before leaving the bill on the counter in front of him and walking away. Were all ANBU freaks?

Ichiro looked at the man's back as he sat there miserably. He didn't know it was that loud of a yell. What was he going to do now that he couldn't hear?

(Break)

Naruto looked around at the park. It was so wonderful and there were so many people his age running around and playing with each other. There were small boxes with sand inside and the children were making things with the sand. There were children sliding down strange things that he had never seen before and some were even sitting on a seat at the end of two long ropes and swinging back and forth.

"We'll.." Katsu glanced around and realized that at some point they had lost Ichiro "Well; anyway, I'll be right here so why don't you go make some new friends?" He suggested as he gave the Kid a slight push toward the strange box. Then he walked over to a tree that had a view of the entire park and jumped on to the branches to settle in for a long time.

Naruto stumbled into the large box and sat down next to a small girl with pink hair. She looked up when he sat down and he noticed that her eyes were forest green. He smiled shyly at her as she looked at him "I'm Naruto, will you be my friend?" The small girl looked at him for a second before smiling back at him.

"I'm Sakura, now let's play together." Naruto smiled at his first new friend and moved Neko-chan out of the way so that he could play with her.

"What'cha doin'?" he asked as he looked at the project the small girl was working on with wonder.

"I'm looking for buried treasure." She told him proudly, motioning toward the shallow hole she had been digging. "You look over there and I'll look here, kay?" Naruto nodded and hurriedly started digging a hole, flinging the sand behind him energetically.

**"What are you trying to do, bury me alive?" **Naruto looked up slightly when he heard someone grumble. Looking around and not seeing anyone, he shrugged and kept digging his hole. As he was digging he felt something under his fingers that was definitely not sand.

"Sakura!" he called happily as he tried to dig up the treasure that was just under his fingers.

"Sakura-chan." She said without turning to look at what he .

"What?" he asked confused with what she was trying to say. She turned to look at him as seriously as she could.

"If we're going to be friends then you should call me Sakura-chan, Naruto-chan." She educated the oblivious young boy. Naruto looked at her for a second before nodding furiously.

"Sakura-chan!" He tried again, "I found some treasure!" he said proudly as he finally pulled out the object that was buried under the sand. Sakura shuffled over so that she could look at his new prize. Naruto gave it a funny look as he tried to figure out what it was. "… a book?" What a strange treasure.

"Oh Naruto-chan I can read some let me try to figure out what it says. It could be a treasure map… er treasure book." Sakura suggested as she pulled the book out of Naruto's disbelieving hands. She furrowed her brow in thought as she tried to decipher the book in her hands.

"I..Ic.. no,no Icha" She nibbled at her thumbnail as she tried to figure out what it said. "Icha, Icha Pa…Parad… Paradise!" She turned to Naruto and held the book over her head triumphantly. "I know what it says Naruto-chan! It says Icha Icha Paradise!"

Several adults who were watching there kids glanced over when they heard the young girls yell. Some of the men's eyes widened in recognition when they saw the book, but most remained oblivious. Before she could have time to fully relish her victory it was snatched out of her hands…. Literally.

Standing above her was a boy that looked to be around twelve. He had silver hair and black eyes and a mask covering the lower part of his face. On his forehead was a metal plate with a strange leaf engraved onto it. He was smiling eerily as he clutched the book to his chest. "Thank you so much!" he cried as he drooled a little.

He was broken out of his daydream by a voice behind him. "Oh, it is my eternal rival!" Said figure was just now walking into the park leading a small boy around Naruto's age over to where they were. "Why are you in the park, Kakashi?" The new ninja let go of the small boy's hand and motioned him to go play in the sand-box with the other children.

"Another boring D-rank mission." Kakashi complained as he subtly hid the book in one of his many pockets. With his other hand he motioned at a small girl that had been hiding behind him and gave her a small push into the sandbox. He resisted the urge to sigh when he saw how his 'ultimate rival's' eyes lit up when he heard why he was there.

"Then I will show that I am the better ninja by being the best baby-sitter ever!" The ninja in green spandex (shudder) clenched his fist in front of him as his eyes lit up with flames. "If my kid cries even once then I will run around Konoha five times…. Backwards!" He proclaimed to everyone who was listening, who was no one.

Meanwhile in the sandbox all of the children were getting acquainted. "I'm Naruto and this is Sakura-chan. Do you want to be friends?" Naruto asked trying the same tactic as before, after all it had worked.

"I'm Rock Lee!" said the boy with long hair pulled into a ponytail and suspiciously round eyes.

"Umm… I'm… Hyuuga Hinata." The small girl said shyly as she tried to hide her face from the rest of them.

"We're looking for buried treasure, wanna help?" Naruto offered as he motioned at the small holes that they had managed to dig so far.

"I'll help you look for treasure!" Lee shouted as he held his hand in front of himself like he had seen the ninja watching him do. Twitching his eyes slightly he tried to catch them on fire like he had seen the older boy. After a few seconds of struggling he managed to work up a small spark but it wasn't nearly as powerful as the ninjas.

Looking over his charge Gai couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "You can do it Lee!" He encouraged as he watched the small boy's weak attempts. "With the power of youth you can do anything!" Lee tried for a couple more seconds before giving up. A flood of tears rushed down his face.

"I'm not strong enough!" Lee wailed as he thought about his pathetic attempts. Meanwhile, Gai was looking at the tears that were rushing down his young charge's face.

"I have failed!" Gai wailed crying a flood of tears much like Lee's "Don't worry Lee! I will go run around Konoha five times backwards to make it up to you!" He yelled dramatically as he did the 'good guy' pose. Then he ran out of the park to begin his self-inflected punishment.

"Wait for me!" Lee cried as he ran after his new hero.

Naruto watched as the two figures disappeared out of sight. "They were really weird." He stated turning back to the two girl's in the sandbox with him. The Kakashi person had disappeared and he was left with just them. Sakura was shuddering to herself when he looked back at her. "What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto cried as he hurried to her side.

"The eyebrow….so big…. Like caterpillars…." The pink haired girl trailed off shuddering and hugging herself to ward off the weirdness that she had just witnessed. Naruto backed away slightly and decided to play with his other new friend for now.

"Hinata-chan, wanna look for treasure with me?" he offered to the small girl. She nodded slightly to show that she was willing and Naruto looked around the small sandbox for prime spots to dig. "Okay you dig there and I'll dig over here." He suggested areas that were far away from Sakura-chan, she was scaring him.

Everything was quiet as the children continued their search for treasures. Hinata's hand brushed something after not too long and she dug it out of the sand. "N..naruto-..kun." she said shyly as she held up her prize. "I..found… so..something." Naruto turned to look at what she had found. Recognition flashed in his eyes.

"Neko-chan? How did you get down there?" Naruto asked as he held his hands out for the small toy in her hands.

"**HOW? You buried me! You're just lucky she found me before you left!" **Neko-chan sounded really angry. Why would Neko-chan be angry at him? Naruto shrugged it off and turned back to his new friend.

"Thanks for finding Neko-chan." He smiled a little at her "But I still don't know how she got down there." Hinata blushed and even brighter red when he thanked her and started stammering again but was interrupted.

A figure in a black cloak that was wearing a mask jumped out of a tree and landed right next to Naruto. Hinata stifled a scream when she saw the terrifying figure in front of her. Naruto followed her terrified gaze to see his guardian standing next to the strange box. "Katsu!" The small blonde boy cried as he jumped into the man's arms.

"Say good-bye to your new friends, Kid." Katsu said as he put Naruto back onto his feet. "It's time for us to head back." Naruto pouted for a second before turning back to his new friends.

"Bye Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan!" he chirped, trying to ignore Sakura's frightened eyes as she continued to shudder painfully.

Then dragging Neko-chan behind him Naruto followed Katsu out of the park. He was wrong about the outside world. It was even better than he could hope to imagine. As he walked out of the park he got the feeling that he was starting a new stage of his life. And he was right.

**REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW!**

**Polls**

Okay, LbcLostKid mentioned to me that I should pair Naruto up later in this fic so I'm putting the poll up now. Suggest almost anyone. Then vote for one that you like and I'll narrow them down later on.

**Pairings so far**

Naruto/Kin- 2 votes


	6. A New Home

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. I'm not going to own it ever for that matter.

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

(Break)

**IMPORTANT A/N! **Okay, a lot of my reviewers have mentioned to me that I had a few mistakes in my last chapter. I am aware of the fact that Kakashi became a chuunin when he was six. I am also aware that he and Gai should be around 16 years old. But I wanted them to be twelve-year old genin for my story. It will not affect them at all later in the story, but what self-respecting chuunin/jounin would be caught baby-sitting some kid? Enjoy chapter 6!

(Break)

Naruto and Katsu strolled back to the ANBU headquarters not in a hurry to get anywhere. Occasionally Naruto would ask Katsu about strange things that he had not seen before and Katsu would patiently explain to his young charge and encouraged the Kid to ask about anything. There was a calm, friendly atmosphere about the two of them as they simply enjoyed each other's company.

Naruto looked around at the darkening sky. Katsu had explained to him all about this new world and Neko-chan would often add comments of her own when she felt that Katsu wasn't giving an adequate explanation on something. His head felt so packed with new information that Naruto wasn't sure that he could learn anymore or else risk it blowing up from an overload.

His eyes were scanning the street for anything else to ask the older man about (he was curious enough to risk his head blowing up) when he noticed a building in front of him. A building that he didn't think he would ever be able to forget. Naruto immediately tensed and pulled Neko-chan closer as his eyes remained locked on the building in front of him.

Katsu looked down at his small charge when he stopped walking. The ANBU ninja was surprised at what he saw. The face that had moments ago held joy and wonder had disappeared and been replaced by one of fear hate. Katsu followed the Kid's gaze to the ANBU headquarters and realized his mistake; the Kid would never willingly go back in there. After all what proof did he have that he would come back out.

"No," Naruto whimpered as he backed away from the building. '_I won't go back in there! They can't make me!' _ With those thoughts the young toddler turned to run away from the place that he had thought he had escaped. His escape, however, was stopped by the ANBU's hand on his shoulder. Naruto shuddered and refused to look back at the building instead choosing to curl up into a ball and block out the horrible thoughts that accompanied the sight of that building.

"It's okay, Kid." Katsu reassured as he tried to think of what he could do. There was no way that the Kid would ever go back into the headquarters but, where could he stay if not there? "We won't make you stay here," he cooed soothingly and quickly thought up an excuse for why they would be there, "We need to get your stuff so that we can move it into your new home." Katsu mentally cursed himself for using that excuse. And the new home would be where?

Naruto looked up at Katsu from behind his splayed fingers, "You promise?" he asked in a small voice as he seemed to unfurl from his shell of protection. "I won't go in there." He continued quietly as if daring Katsu to contradict him.

Katsu nodded to show that he understood. "But Kid, I need to get your stuff and I can't leave you out here alone. It's getting dark." '_And the villagers would probably pounce as soon as I turned my back' _"We'll only be in there long enough to get your stuff, I promise." He urged the child to agree to his terms but the Kid only responded with a small shake of his head.

Sighing Katsu spared the ANBU headquarters one last glance before continuing down the road. Naruto's entire body remained tense until after the headquarters were completely out of sight and a couple of blocks behind them. When he calmed down he realized that he didn't know where the ANBU was taking him. "Where we go?" he asked the older man, tugging on his sleeve.

Katsu glanced down at the small form beside him, "You're going to come stay with me and Ichiro for a while, Kid. I'll go get you your stuff tomorrow." The ANBU walked down the street with the child's frail hand in his and distantly hoped that Ichiro wouldn't kill him for this.

(Break)

Ichiro looked up when he felt the floor vibrate slightly. His lack of hearing was disturbing him greatly and he could only pray and hope that it wouldn't be permanent. For now he simply had to rely on his other four senses. The floor was vibrating and that meant that someone was walking around in the living room. He set down the medicine and walked into the other room to investigate.

"Hello Katsu," he greeted his comrade, not noticing the small boy that had wandered into the kitchen. "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be with the Kid?" he resisted the strong urge to shudder. To know that he was speaking, to feel his voice box work, and not hear a thing was the strangest sensation he had ever experienced.

"Um, Ichiro" Katsu began awkwardly, but poor Ichiro couldn't hear a thing as he detachedly watched his comrades mouth form words "You do know that you have Q-tips sticking out of your ears, right?" Katsu walked over to his comrade and waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you listening to me?" he asked indignantly as he noticed Ichiro's oblivious look.

"Oh, Katsu!" He cried dramatically as he thought about his predicament. "I can't hear a thing! The Kid has made me go deaf!" The younger ANBU was frantic as he thought about the consequences of being handicapped. He couldn't be an ANBU anymore; they probably wouldn't even let him be a ninja!

"Calm down, Ichiro," Katsu soothed, and he decided not to tell his comrade about the boy's presence yet. "It's most likely not permanent. Just get a lot of sleep and keep putting that medication on them like you have been." He had no idea if what he said was true, what was he a medi-nin? But Katsu didn't like seeing his friend like this. "In fact you'll probably be fine when you wake up tomorrow. Now go get some sleep." He ordered, giving the younger man a small push towards his bedroom.

Ichiro just missed Naruto's presence as the boy walked out of the kitchen just as he started walking away. Naruto frowned slightly at how sad Katsu looked as he watched Ichiro walk away. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked making the older man jump slightly.

"Nothings wrong, Kid." Katsu lied through his teeth, "Ichiro just needs to get some sleep. He'll be fine in the morning. Now let's get you ready for bed." He quickly changed the subject as he led the boy into his room. "You can hardly sleep in that so I'll let you borrow one of my shirts." He commented as he pulled a really big black shirt out of his dresser and tossed it to Naruto.

Naruto quickly slid out of his blindingly bright clothes and pulled the black shirt over his head. It reached past his knees when he was standing straight. Naruto held the fabric and examined it closely. It was so dark compared to what he was used to. All of his clothes were either white or really bright. Sometimes they would hurt his eyes if he looked too long. But this shirt was black and Naruto found it strangely soothing to look at.

"That'll have to do until I can go get the rest of your things tomorrow." Katsu commented as he observed the Kid's look of wonder. "Now hop into bed, we have a big day tomorrow and you need all of the rest you can get." As if on cue Naruto yawned a wide jaw-cracking yawn. Naruto climbed into the bed, holding his Neko-chan close and was asleep in minutes.

Katsu smiled at the child for a moment before heading into the living room. They would need to get the Kid his own room if he was going to be staying here for too long. After all Katsu refused to sleep on the couch all the time.

"**Hey, what about me?"** Kyuubi complained loudly. "**It's not like I can sleep. What am I going to do for the next eight or nine hours?" **Kyuubi hated this. She had a lovely view of the boy's arms. Yep, he had turned in his sleep and thrown his arm over her. So now she had his weight crushing her down, couldn't move out from under his arm, and couldn't even look away from the pale appendage that was trapping her there. She hated not being able to move at all.

(Break)

"Wake up, Kid." Katsu gently shook the young child that had taken over his bed last night. "Hey, Kid! I said wake up!" The small boy simply turned over and snuggled into the blankets. "Ichiro's making breakfast." He tried on a random whim. Surprisingly, it worked. The Kid practically jumped out of the bed, slipped back into his clothes from yesterday, and ran towards the kitchen.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen!" Naruto chanted as he ran into the kitchen. Ichiro was standing by the stove feeling a lot better than he had yesterday. He smiled at the Kid's childish attitude. It was like a fresh breeze in the ANBU's stale world.

"Sorry, Kid. Not for breakfast." He flipped the omelets out of the pan and onto a plate. "Maybe later we'll buy you some ramen but you need to eat something healthier for you. After all we're going to start training you today." He scooped some omelet and bacon onto a plate and set it in front of the small boy.

"Itadakimas!(sp?)" Naruto cried joyfully as he dug into his breakfast. Kyuubi watched him inhale the food and mentally shuddered.

"**Do you have to eat so fast? It's not like it'll disappear." **Kyuubi commented clearly showing her disgust for his manners. Naruto glanced up at the small stuffed animal, half a piece of bacon hanging from his mouth. Kyuubi sighed at the small boy's blank expression. "**Whatever. Just get it over with, Kid." **With the Kyuubi's permission Naruto turned back to his food and resumed inhaling it at an unhealthy rate.

Katsu wondered into the kitchen and snitched a piece of bacon off of the pan as Ichiro was cooking it. Ichiro absently swatted his partner with the spatula in his hand with ease that comes from repetition. Katsu merely ducked under the spatula and snatched another piece of bacon before darting away.

"Katsu, why do you steal from Ichiro when there's bacon right here?" Naruto wondered as he looked at Katsu's wary form as he stayed just out of spatula range. Katsu looked up at Naruto blankly before replying as if it should be obvious.

"Where would the fun be in that, Kid?" He shook his head at the child's ignorance before glancing at the Kid's empty plate. "Done? Good we need to go buy you some fighting clothes and then we can start your training. Coming Ichiro?" He turned to his comrade who was slipping an apron off and eating some bacon at the same time. Ichiro nodded his head as his mouth was full and hung the apron up on a hook on the wall.

"C'mon Katsu, you too Kid. We need to get a head start if we want to get anything done before it gets too hot. I won't let you overwork the Kid and risk him suffering from heat exhaustion, Katsu." Ichiro's voice took on a slightly motherhen-ish voice as he led them out of the apartment. "What kind of clothes do you want anyway, Kid?" Ichiro asked as they walked toward a clothing store.

Naruto paused to think for a second. "Dark, I want black clothes like yours." He finally decided as he gave the older men's apparel an appraising look. "Nothing bright." When he said this he glanced down at the glaringly bright orange shirt he was currently wearing. "And nothing white." He mentally shuddered as he remembered his old home. White had been everywhere, the floors, the ceiling, and the furniture. If he never saw white again, it would be too soon.

(Break)

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Naru/TenTen- 1

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Naru/Hina- 7

Naru/Kin- 4

Naru/Ino- 3

Naru/Tem- 1

Naru/Kim- 1


	7. A Name to be Feared

A Kitsune Riding on My Shoulder

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I'm not likely to gain ownership of it at any point while writing this story. I'm not going to own it ever for that matter.

"Talking"

"**Kyuubi"**

'_Thoughts'_

(Break)

(Two Years Later) A/N: you know you've all been waiting for it! ; )

"Please Ichiro-niisan!" Naruto whined as he tugged on the older man's sleeve. He had grown very little over the two years but his appearance had changed completely. He was wearing black cargo pants and a navy blue t-shirt and his skin had lost the unhealthy pallor after spending countless days training from dawn till dusk.

"For the fifth time, no." Ichiro sighed in annoyance as he tried to brush his young charge away. "Katsu will only teach you if you meet all of the requirements, which you don't." His voice was kind but held an air that showed that he would not give in. "The more you train, the sooner he'll teach you. I can't let you train with him until you perfect kunai throwing with your right hand."

"But, I mean why do I need to practice with my right hand when I'm better with my left?" Naruto whined as he tried to convince his sensei. It was an old argument between the two of them that both refused to give up on.

"A ninja's strength is in their strategy, Kid." Ichiro quoted to his student "As long as your enemy thinks you're right-handed you hold an advantage. Once they know your secrets you lose that advantage. So go practice, Kid, and if you get good enough then I'll talk to Katsu about training you." Naruto nodded glumly in defeat and turned to leave the room and train. "Oh, and kid,100 laps around Konoha, I told you not to harass me about that." Naruto scowled as his sensei but knew that there would be no point in arguing.

"**Hey, don't forget me!" **Kyuubi called from her perch on the table. It wouldn't be the first time that she had been left in the same spot for hours on end.

"Sorry, Neko-chan." Naruto apologized as he grabbed the small container and fled from the room. Ichiro watched his student speed out of the room, when would he get over the whole Neko-chan thing? It couldn't be healthy for a kid his age.

(Break)

"**Come on, Kid. Is that the best you can do?" **Kyuubi encouraged as Naruto ran his 97th lap around Konoha. "**You must be weaker than I thought. I'm not even tired yet." **She taunted the exhausted boy.

Naruto could only manage to muster a weak glare as he continued his staggering pace. "Of course you're not tired. You're not doing any work. I'm the one that's running and all you do is make fun of me!" He would have continued his complaining but was forced to stop for lack of air.

"**Well, the sooner you perfect your kunai throwing, the sooner you can do the fun stuff. You've already done 97 laps and it's not like anyone's watching you." **Kyuubi offered the tired boy, "**Just go work on your throwing skills right now. They'll never know." **Naruto glanced down at Kyuubi in shock at that statement. Her red eyes gazed ahead of them but he knew that she was watching him.

"Well…" Naruto considered the idea as he slowed down to a jog. "It's not like Ichiro-niisan will know and it's only a few laps….." he glanced around as if expecting his current sensei to leap out of the bushes and reprimand him for skipping out on part of his work. Then, with one last paranoid glance around Naruto turned and jogged off to where his kunai throwing targets were.

Ichiro sighed as he watched his small charge run off in the opposite direction. He was doing surprisingly well in all of his areas except for kunai throwing. But that wasn't the real reason he wasn't moving on. "A good ninja always completes their missions…." He quoted as he watched his charge disappear into the forest. "Maybe you'll learn a couple things when you go to the academy kid, but for now you aren't ready to move on."

(Break)

"Did you have fun practicing kunai throwing today, Naruto?" Katsu questioned when he heard the door slam loudly. The sound was quickly followed by fast, small steps as Naruto scurried into the living room.

"Katsu-aniki!" Naruto yelled as he jumped at the older man. Katsu turned just in time to catch the small boy in a hug. "How was your mission, aniki?" Naruto questioned with wide innocent eyes. His lowered his voice slightly and leaned in, "Is it a secret, aniki? It's alright, you can tell me and I won't tell anyone."

Katsu laughed as he set the small child back on the floor, "Yeah right, Naruto. You'd tell the first person to offer you some ramen." Naruto pouted at the accusation but didn't deny it, he probably would and he knew it. "How was practice today?" Katsu changed the subject, unwilling to talk about his mission.

"Oh, it was great, aniki! I'm a lot better with my right hand and Ichiro-niisan says that if I get good enough you'll teach me! Will you? Please?" Naruto pouted to add effect to his begging making Katsu laugh at the adorable face that he made.

"Maybe after you go to the academy for a while, Kid." Katsu offered unable to give an outright 'no' to such an adorable face. "You start on Monday don't you?" Katsu changed the subject with ease and distracted the six-year-old's short attention span. "If you get good grades in all areas then I'll consider teaching you."

Naruto pouted at his sensei's words, "**If **I do good, you'll **consider **teaching me. You make it sound so impossible aniki." Katsu only laughed at the child's pessimistic attitude, making Naruto even surlier.

"Don't worry. I'll teach you eventually. Now go rest up, you're going to academy tomorrow and don't think that means that Ichiro will cancel your training. By the end of tomorrow you're gonna wish that you never decided to become a ninja or, come to think of it, that you were ever born." Katsu grinned evilly as he thought of the ways that his partner would train :cough cough: torture the young child.

"I'm not weak, Katsu-aniki. I can handle a little school along with my training." Naruto argued: offended at how his older 'brother' was treating him like a child. "Besides, I'm already ahead of all the other kids anyway cause I've had Ichiro-niisan teaching me for so long." He puffed up with pride as he imagined the looks on everyone's faces when he outclassed all of the other students.

"Don't be over-confident, Kid." Katsu warned, "You're not the only one that's had training before going to the academy. Some clans start teaching their children how to fight and use their bloodline limit as soon as they can walk. You won't have a chance against someone from a strong clan like the Hyuuga or that Uchiha kid if you piss them off. And if you act like that a student who's stronger than you might want to take you down a few notches." Katsu was really worried about how Naruto would be treated at the academy and if he acted like **that **it would only make the situation worse.

**"Listen to what he says, Kid." **Kyuubi advised from where she had been carelessly thrown on the floor, "**You're a weakling and you wouldn't stand a chance against any of the other students there." **Naruto tried not to be hurt by what the fox was saying but he knew that Neko-chan was his only true friend and whenever she said something it hurt him more than what anyone else said.

"What's wrong, Kid?" Katsu queried when he saw the Kid's face crumple in on itself. He hadn't said anything mean had he? No, he had just given the Kid a warning that was all, nothing to get depressed over.

Naruto turned to face his 'older brother', his face empty of the sorrow it had held seconds ago, "Nothing's wrong, aniki. I'm going to go to bed now. After all I've got to rest up for my big day tomorrow." With that he turned and left the room oblivious to the worry that he had caused to form in Katsu's mind and ignoring the desperate cries of Neko-chan.

**"What? Don't leave me here! Come back here this instant!" **Kyuubi was panicking; she didn't want to be left alone with that, that **_human. _** He seemed to get some sort of sick satisfaction out of torturing her for no reason at all. "**I'm sorry! I take it back! I'll do anything, just don't leave me alone with _him_**!"

(Break: Scene Change- The Hyuuga Mansion)

Hinata nervously fiddled with the bottom of her coat as she waited outside the door. Even though he had summoned her it was expected for her to wait until he called her in for her to enter the room. She didn't know why she had been summoned. She had not done anything wrong lately and while her skills as a kunoichi had been improving at a very slow rate it did not change the fact that she had at least improved some.

"Come in Hinata." A voice beckoned from inside the room, breaking her out of her pondering. Obediently she slid open the door and entered the room. Walking quietly and without grace she moved to stand in front of her father's desk and bowed slightly.

"You..c-call-ed fo-for me ot….-okoo..ya-sama?" She stuttered as she remained with her head humbly bowed in a show of respect. He hated stuttering and saw it as a sign of weakness. So as a result she tried to stutter as little as possible while in his presence. This, however, only resulted in making the issue worse.

"Yes, Hinata." He said in an emotionless voice as he set down the papers he was holding and turned to face his first child and heir. "There is something that I need to discuss with you." His face was stern and his posture stiff, showing that whatever he had to say she would not like.

"Y-yes, oto-.kooy..a-sama?" She stumbled over her words as she tried not to think about what he would yell at her for now. Whatever it was she just hoped that he would spit it out; her nerves couldn't take much more.

"Hinata," Her father started as he looked at his oldest child, "You are my heir, one day you will become the head of the Hyuuga family. You will need to be strong, independent and able to make important decisions on a moments notice." She had heard this speech many times before and could not think of why he would be giving it to her now. "You do not currently posses any of these necessary qualities, Hinata." Her father met her gaze and held it in his own until she gave up and dropped her eyes to the floor. "What I'm trying to say is you are too weak to be my heir as you are now."

Hinata could not hold back her surprise at what her father was saying. Surely he wouldn't disown her? She was only six years old! '_But' _a voice in the back of her mind whispered '_He doesn't need you anymore does he? He's got Hanabi now so why would he keep a weakling like you around?' _Hinata furiously shook her head, denying the truth of that statement. She had to be wrong!

"But do not worry, Hinata" Her father said in what would have been a comforting manor if his voice hadn't been completely emotionless. "I have found a solution to your problem. It is dangerous and complicated but when it's all over with, it will be worth it. You will live up to the Hyuuga name yet, Hinata." He then waved his hand in a dismissive motion, showing that he was done with her. "Now, leave. I will prepare the ceremony and call you when it is ready. And finally my heir, you will feel true power."

Hinata walked out of the room as fast as she could without breaking out into a run. When she was out of the range of her father's Byakugan she broke out in a dead run, her father's voice echoing in her head.

'_-solution to your problem-'_

'_-feel true power-'_

'_-live up to the Hyuuga name-'_

'_-are too weak-'_

'_**you are too weak'**_

'_**YOU ARE TOO WEAK'**_

And suddenly, as Hinata dashed through another abandoned hallway she realized something. She would do it. No matter how dangerous it may be she would be willing to put everything on the line for this chance. She would show the world exactly what it meant to be a Hyuuga. She would show the world that she was not a weakling or a coward. She was a Hyuuga.

And Hyuuga is a name to be feared.

lalalala doo doo deed um REVIEW! REVIEW!

**Polls-**

So I'm gonna write Hinata into the story for now. If you don't want that pairing now's your chance! Review!

Naru/kin- 7

Naru/Kyuubi- 9

Naru/Hinata- 16

Naru/ino- 4

Naru/Tenten- 1

Naru/anko- 1

None- 1


	8. chibi cuteness

A Kitsune Riding On My Shoulder

By: Nobodykaires

I don't own Naruto

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out! I want to say that it was because of school or something but the truth is that I'm just a horrible procrastinator… So next time I even start to take this long to get a chapter, yell at me personally. My aim is nobodykaires. I'm usually on and if you tell me to update then I'm more likely to listen if it's im cause it's harder to say "I'll do it later" when you're right there waiting…

(Lalalalal this is a page break)

Naruto yawned and stretched in his bed before settling down in a more comfortable position. He had trained extra hard on his kunai throwing and hadn't gotten back until later. Sleepily he lay sprawled on his bed and thought about his training. There was a reason that he had been practicing harder than usual last night. But his sleepy mind couldn't quite grasp onto what exactly that reason had been.

"Rise and shine, Kid!" Ichiro called cheerfully as he flipped on the lights and barged into the room. After a couple months of living with the two ANBU, Naruto had managed to convince the lazy men to clean out their storage room so that he could have somewhere to sleep. After a lot of redecorating, the room somewhat resembled a child's bedroom. Well, except for the weapons rack that was pushed up against one of the walls, but where else were they supposed to keep it?

"Ugh!" Naruto screamed as he rolled over and buried his head in his pillow. "Jus' five more minu…" he mumbled into his pillow while waving his hand dismissively at the older man. Absently Naruto shoved Neko-chan off of his bed, anticipating her daily morning lecture.

Ichiro smiled at the small boy's antics, it happened every day and still he insisted on training until late at night. "C'mon Kid, academy starts at nine and if you want breakfast you have to get up now." Naruto seemed to gain some energy at those words and peeked out from under his covers to adjust his eyes to the light slowly.

"I'm up. I'm up." Naruto finally grumbles as he shoved his blankets onto the floor. The temptation to go back to sleep was too strong if he was under his warm blankets. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto stumbled around his room, still half asleep. Ichiro merely shook his head at the young boy's antics before leaving the young child to his morning ritual.

As soon at Ichiro left the room Naruto stopped his hurried frenzy and glanced down at his only friend and companion. "Neko-chan?" he started but then realized that he couldn't see her anywhere. "Neko-chan, where'd you go?" He asked as he scanned his room with his eyes.

**"I'm under your blanket, idiot" **Came a voice from the other side of the room. Naruto turned around sheepishly and hurriedly pulled the blanket off of his small companion. **"You do that everyday…Shouldn't you realize after the first couple times that I'm going to be in the same place?" **Neko-chan grumbled at Naruto pulled her out of the mess of blankets.

"I'm really sorry, Neko-chan. Honest." Naruto apologized as he placed his friend on a safer perch on his dresser. "But I've got a problem Neko-chan and I dunno what I should do." He fretted nervously as he absently tugged on the bottom of his shirt.

**"What is the problem this time?" **Neko-chan asked in a long-suffering voice. Naruto had a habit of freaking out at the smallest things and thinking that his problem was the end of the world. She figured it must be a child-thing since the other two didn't act that way.

"Neko-chan! What should I do? I'm going to academy today and I have to show everyone that I'm really strong." Naruto started to pace nervously as he poured out all his issues to his only friend. "But, well…. Strong ninjas don't carry stuffed animals around…. How am I supposed to impress anyone when you're around?" Here, Naruto stopped pacing and looked into Neko-chan's cold plastic eyes as if he could meet her gaze.

Neko-chan looked at Naruto seriously for a minute as if gouging his sincerity and how serious the issue was before coming to a conclusion. **"You will **_not _**leave me here." **She commanded, leaving no room for any arguments. **"You are still young enough to be seen with a stuffed animal. When you reach the age where it is looked down upon I will consider staying behind." **She compromised. She would not stay behind with that _monster._

"Hey Naruto!" Ichiro called from the kitchen. "You're taking too long, if you want to make it on time you'll have to leave now." Naruto yelped at that comment and ran a brush through his hair in an attempt to look presentable before grabbing Neko-chan and running out the door.

"O.K. Naruto. I packed you an extra large lunch to make up for you not having breakfast." Ichiro told him as he handed Naruto a lunch bag. "I have a mission today so I won't be here when you get back but I expect to hear all about your day when I'm done." Ichiro stated as he patted Naruto on the head affectionately.

"You show those kids what you're made of." Then he pushed Naruto out the door. "You'll have to run if you don't want to be late!" He exclaimed as he gave Naruto a small shove. Naruto stumbled along a few steps before turning and waving goodbye.

"I'll see you when you get back from your mission Nii-san!" Naruto called as he walked away. "And I'll tell you all about how the kids there where in awe of my skill!" He exclaimed arrogantly before sprinting off in the direction of the academy.

Naruto sped through the streets, trying to avoid any collisions with the villagers as they went about his life. A couple ninjas that were out on the street watched the blonde boy and smiled at his energy and spirit, but to the villagers he was only a blur of color.

When Naruto arrived at the academy the children were already filing into their classes. He put on a small burst of speed and burst through the door with a sign on it that said 'New students'. He skidded from slightly as he tried to stop without crashing into anything.

"How nice of you to join us." Said a man at the front of the room. "Please take a seat, or did you have something else planned?" Naruto blushed as he noticed that the eyes of everyone in the class were on him.

"Er, no it's ok… I'll just take a seat…." Naruto stammered as he avoided meeting anyone's eyes. "I'm sorry I'm late…" Dejectedly Naruto took a seat in the back of the room. The boy in the seat next to him only spared him a glance before looking back at the man in the front of the room.

"Now that we're all here we can start." The man at the front of the room suggested. "My name is Mizuki and I will be your teacher for the next few years. You will call me Mizuki-san or Mizuki-sensei. Understand class?" He lectured. The room was silent for a couple seconds as the new students looked at their new teacher. "I said 'Understand class?'" Mizuki said in a louder voice to the children.

"Hai Mizuki-sensei!" some of the children called out as they realized what he wanted. Naruto noticed the boy next to him scoff at the other children with his black eyes narrowed and muttering something about weaklings, revenge, and strawberry hair conditioner.

"Class, I would also like to introduce my assistant teacher, Iruka-san." Mizuki continued, waving for a boy standing behind him to come forward. "When he became a genin he decided that, for some strange reason, he wanted to teach as a profession instead of fighting. You are to give him the same respect that you give me, understand class?"

This time the children understood what he wanted and he question was quickly followed by choruses of "Hai, Mizuki-sensei" Iruka just blushed at the attention he was receiving and waved to the class before hiding behind Mizuki nervously.

"For now, Iruka-san will merely be observing my teaching methods but, once he is able to, he will teach you in the ways of Konoha ninja." Mizuki lectured the class as his voice became monotonous "Today we will be learning about the different hand seals that are used in all kinds of different jutsus." Collectively the class groaned. That was such a boring subject. Why couldn't he teach them cool new techniques?

Seemingly ignorant of the class' disappointment Mizuki started his lesson. Half the class listened to what he said and the other half just relaxed and ignored him. Naruto was one of the ones that ignored him. A few minutes into the lecture Naruto decided to find something exciting to do.

Poke.

Twitch.

Poke.

Twitch.

Poke.

Vein pulsing.

Poke.

"Why are you doing that?" The black haired boy finally ground out, glaring at Naruto angrily. Seemingly oblivious to the other boy's anger, Naruto poked him again.

"Hey," Naruto asked quietly so that the teacher wouldn't yell at them. When the boy glared back at him he took that as his signal to continue, "If I poke you enough times, will you blow up?" He poked the boy again as if to test his theory.

"That's stupid, of course I won't blow up, stupid," The black haired boy grumbled angrily. "Only someone that's really stupid would think up and idea that's that stupid, Which means that you must be really stupid. So shut your stupid mouth now before anymore stupid ideas come out of it."

Blink.

Blink.

"…..You do realize that you just said stupid seven times, right?" Naruto questioned, not at all insulted by what the other boy had done.

"You do realize that you're really stupid, don't you?" Was the other boy's comeback. Naruto was quiet for a second as if waiting to see if the boy was going to say anything else.

"Ok…. That's eight times…… you have a very limited vocabulary, don't you?" He asked the boy quietly as he glanced around the room, "I mean you're not, like, messed up in the head or anything are you?"

"You have a very limited brain capacity." The boy growled back, embarrassed that what Naruto said was true. Naruto seemed to think over what he said for a second.

"What's a 'brain capacity'?" He asked the other boy innocently. The brunette looked at Naruto as if to see if he was really serious, as if he couldn't believe that Naruto didn't know what brain capacity was. There was silence for a few seconds with only Mizuki's voice droning on in the background.

"I….. don't know….I just heard someone say it and it sounded like it was a really mean insult," The boy admitted embarrassed. Naruto brightened up when he heard these words.

"So, it could mean, like, that I'm super smart and an awesome ninja?" He asked brightly as he bounced a little in his seat. "And then, it would really be more of a compliment….so… thanks! I'm glad you think so!" He chirped the last part with a smile.

"No!" The other boy exclaimed before being hushed by a look from Mizuki, "If anyone here is really smart and an awesome ninja, then it's me!" he declared angrily. "Not you! I'm smarter than you and a better ninja!" His voice was getting louder with each word he said, "I'm the one with a limited brain capacity!" He shouted at the blonde, standing up from his seat and declaring it to the whole class.

Silence.

Birds Chirping.

"Detention, Uchiha-san, for disrupting my class. It is obvious that you are correct and you _do _have a limited brain capacity." Mizuki commented dryly as 'Uchiha-san' slumped back into his chair, embarrassed.

"Ne, Neko-chan?" Naruto whispered quietly so that he wouldn't be heard, "What _does _'limited brain capacity' mean?" It took the small stuffed animal a while to recover from her laughing enough to be able to tell the small boy.

"**Someone who has a limited brain capacity is really stupid." **Neko-chan informed the small blonde boy.

"Oh, so Uchiha-san just called himself an idiot?" He asked, disbelieving.

"I'm not an idiot." The mentioned boy muttered as he overheard Naruto's last comment. "And don't call me Uchiha-san that was my father. My name's Sasuke." He said without looking at the blonde boy.

"Nice to meet you Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, holding his hand out to the other boy, "My names Naruto! Pleasure to meet you!" He chirped, seemingly forgetting that they had just been yelling at each other seconds before.

"Class dismissed." Mizuki-sensei said from the front of the classroom, "Uchiha-san, Inuzuka-san, stay after for your detentions." As Naruto sped out of the room he could hear Mizuki-sensei lecturing the other boy about bringing pets to school while the boy completely blew him off.

Naruto ran through the winding hallways while trying to remember how he had gotten to his classroom and not get lost on the way out. As he ran around a corner he wasn't looking and ran straight into another person.

"I am SO sorry!" He apologized as he helped the petite girl stand up. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and it was all my fault and I was just going too fast, and I'm SO sorry!" He rambled off as he made sure that the girl was all right. When he looked up at the girl he was surprised to see amusement dancing in her eyes.

Quickly she covered her mouth even as her eyes continued their twinkling, "I…I'm …so…sorry…." She stammered nervously behind her hand, "Its…ho…horrible… of me…." She paused for a second to collect herself, "I…sho…shouldn't… la….laugh at…you….li..er… like that…." Naruto stared at the girl unbelieving as she continued to stammer along.

"It's ok…." He said, hoping to take away any guilt she felt, "It was my fault anyway…" He paused as he seemed to think of something "You look familiar, do I know you?" She blushed at the attention he was giving her but her eyes showed her joy that he had remembered.

"Ye….yes…" She stammered before Naruto interrupted her. Honestly, she was a nice girl, but it took her forever to actually say anything.

"You're the girl from the park, Hoy…no…. Huu….no not that either…. Umm.." He murmured to himself as he tried to remember her name.

"Hyuuga, Hinata." Naruto snapped his fingers.

"That's it, Hinata!" Looking back up at her Naruto was surprised to see a boy that looked similar to her hovering next to her protectively. "er…Hello, have we met?" He asked nervously as the new boy's eyes bore into Naruto's.

"Nii-san…." Hinata murmured as her cousin glared at Naruto.

"Come along, Hinata-sama. We must go prepare ourselves." He said, not elaborating on the ceremony while in public so that people would not learn and of the Hyuuga's secrets.

"Ha..hai….Nii-san…." Hinata agreed before turning back to Naruto, "Say…Sayon…ar…." She stuttered even as her cousin led her out of the school and away from Naruto.

"**Well, are you gonna just stand here all day, or are you gonna head home?" **Neko-chan asked angrily when Naruto did not leave fast enough.

"Neko-chan?" Naruto questioned his chibi friend, "Why were her eyes so sad?" He looked down at the one person who always seemed to have all the answers. "Even when she smiled, her eyes looked like she was crying inside….." He trailed off as he remembered.

"**You're too young to understand, Kid. Let's just go home.**" Neko-chan said, not wanting to describe what the small human girl must have felt being the future of one of the most powerful clans. Naruto nodded agreement; after all, Neko-chan would never lie to him, and then started on his way home. He couldn't wait to tell aniki and nii-san all about his first day at school.

Ahem! REVIEW!REVIEWW!REVIEW!

Lol, that's fun to do….

Hello, because I'm super lazy and it's a pain to add up all the votes, I'm gonna say that any pairing that doesn't have over 10 votes after this chapter will be discarded. Just a heads up.

Polls

Naru/Hinata- 31

Naru/Kyuubi- 17

Naru/Kin- 9

Naru/Ino- 7

Naru/Tenten- 2

Naru/Tayuya- 1

Naru/Anko- 1

None- 3

On a completely random note, I know that some people think that naru/hin is way overdone and I appreciate that you are willing to take the time to review my story but, unless I decide that I totally hate the winning vote, I will have no control over who Naruto ends up with. I can only say that it will NOT be a fluff fic, but that most good stories need romance in some form.


	9. The Ritual

Chapter 9

Alright, here's the whole thing! Enjoy!

"Are all the preparations complete?" Hiashi questioned in a clipped voice. A couple branch members hurried to finish some touch-ups before rushing out of the room as soon as they were done.

"Hai Hyuuga-sama," Neji answered in an emotionless voice, "Everything is ready, now all we need it Hinata-sama." He tried not to spit her name out, for it would anger Hiashi greatly to show such a sign of disrespect.

"Go retrieve her from her rooms Neji; I would like to get this ritual over with as soon as possible." Hiashi ordered without turning to look at his nephew. Neji bowed his way out of the room and hurried through the halls to the main family's bedroom area.

Without faltering he walked up to one non-descript brown door and knocked. "Hinata-sama, preparations are complete, are you ready for the ritual?" He asked not out of any true concern, but because it was expected of him to show her respect at all times.

The door slowly slid open and Hinata hesitantly stepped out into the hallway. Her hair was held up in a short ponytail to keep it out of her face, and she was wearing a pure white flowing gown that reached the floor. A petite bare foot was revealed as she slowly stepped up next to her cousin.

"Neji-nii-san….." She whispered reaching out to him only to have him step back almost unnoticeably, yet out of her reach. Her arms that had been stretched out instead went to wrap themselves around herself in a hug. "Nii-san…." Her voice was the barest whisper and her eyes remained fixed on the floor "….I'm so scared….."

She cautiously raised her head and met Neji's emotionless eyes with her own tear filled ones. She looked so pitiful at that moment that Neji almost expected to find himself feeling bad for her, but the only emotion he was able to feel at that moment was anger

"Come Hinata-sama, we shouldn't keep Hyuuga-sama waiting too long." Without waiting for a response he turned and walked away, Hinata obediently trailing behind him.

When they arrived at the room Neji opened the door and held it open for Hinata to walk through first. The normally courteous action was ruined by the cold glare that followed her as she entered the room.

Hiashi looked up when he heard the door open and stood in the middle of a circle that looked like it had been painted in blood. "Come Hinata, now you shall truly feel what it is to be powerful. Come, accept what is your right and you heritage." He dipped his hands into a bowl which appeared to hold the same substance that was used for the runes on the floor and held his arms out to Hinata not seeming to notice the blood that dripped off of his hands onto the once perfect circle.

"Come my daughter, it is time."

"Katsu, have you seen Neko-chan anywhere?" Naruto called as he sped into the kitchen. "I've looked everywhere, but I can't find her!" His voice slowly raised in pitch as he started to truly panic over the loss of his favorite companion.

Katsu only response was to grunt and go back to eating his eggs and previewing a mission that he was thinking about taking on. Any response he would have given would have been unheard anyway as Naruto was already in the next room searching for his beloved stuffed animal.

"I can't go to school without her, she'll never forgive me!" He cried as he once again threw the couch cushions onto the floor to look at what he might find underneath them. "Wait, what's this book?" Naruto called to Katsu from the living room, "Icha Icha Paradise volume 2? Is this yours?" Next thing he knew he had nothing but air in his hand and Katsu was slipping the book into a pocket.

"No matter how many time Ichiro asks, you never saw this, got it?" Katsu demanded before sweeping out of the room and back to his breakfast.

"Umm… ok, that was weird…." Naruto mumbled to himself before glancing at his watch, "Crap! I'm gonna be late!" He cast one more glance around the room before rushing out the door.

Naruto rushed outside and immediately leapt onto the rooftops for a clearer path to his destination. He hopped from roof to roof ignoring angry mutterings the villager made about "ninjas thinking they owned the town"

Eventually there were less and less building until the completely disappeared and he was left running through one of Konoha's many forests. He knew he was approaching the meeting place when he caught a faint whiff of barbeque chips. He grinned in anticipation and sped up for the remaining section and dropped out of the trees into a small clearing were they were waiting for him.

"It's about time you got here Naruto." Kiba called from where he was sitting playing with Akamaru. "We almost started without you." He deftly grabbed a small stick out of Akamaru's teeth and through it into the forest, the small dog hot on its tail.

"Alright, so what's our plan of action?" Chouji questioned around a mouthful of chips. His other conspirators gave him a blank look at the question.

"Well…." Naruto started somewhat sheepishly, "I was just thinking, Hurry and hope they don't catch us until we're done….." Kiba nodded his head in agreement before starting a tug-of-war with Akamaru over the stick and no longer paying attention to their conversation.

"Right! So, everyone ready?" Chouji nodded, his mouth too full to speak and Kiba merely waved the hand that wasn't holding the stick as if to say 'I was born ready, this is nothing' "All right, lets get started then!" Naruto ordered, taking control automatically. Kiba just gave him an annoyed look before getting up slowly to show that he would not be ordered around by the other boy.

Each of the boys bent down and grabbed a separate bucket that Chouji had managed to obtain and (somehow) bring out into the woods on his own. The trip back took much longer as all of the boys had to travel extremely slowly so that they wouldn't spill any of the contents in the buckets they were carrying.

Walking as quietly as they were able, the boys traveled along little-used side paths that lead up the mountain to their destination. All of the boys jumped when Chouji's stomach growled. Kiba glared at him angrily while Naruto scanned the woods to see if anyone had heard the surprisingly loud noise.

"C'mon" Naruto whispered to the other two boys "We have to hurry cause I told Ichiro I'd be back in time for lunch" with that comment the three boys sped up the smallest amount causing the contents of their buckets to slosh over the sides and onto the ground.

"Ok, let's get started," Naruto said before grabbing a paint brush, dipping it into his bucket of blue paint and diving off onto the Hokage monument and landing carefully on the fourth's nose.

Kiba followed suit, leaping onto the thirds nose instead. "I've always wondered what the Third would look like if he had been an Inuzuka!" He called to Naruto and proceeded to paint the stripes of his clan onto the Third's cheeks.

Chouji looked at his friends as they painted graffiti onto the faces of the previous Hokage then glanced back at his bags of chips. Finally, he decided it wasn't worth the effort, and sat down to eat his chips while keeping watch for any ninja's that might investigate.

Naruto swiped one last stripe of paint across the fourth's face, a wide grin on his face. "Perfect." He declared, motioning to Kiba he told his friend that he was done and scurried up to the top of the mountain to collect and dispose of the supplies they used for their overdone prank.

Naruto grinned widely as he looked proudly upon his masterpiece. Absentmindedly he wiped some paint off of his hands onto his pants legs. "Now, let the chaos begin."

Hiashi put a few finishing touches onto the design on Hinata's face before stepping back to look at it, he nodded, pleased with how it had turned out. "Perfect" He commented before carefully stepping out of the circle. He walked over to a small table with materials on it a grabbed a towel which he used to wipe the remaining blood off of his hands.

Finally, he turned to the two children in the circle and smiled, "Now, let us begin."

The two children in the circle were facing each other, looking like polar opposites. Hinata, dressed in pure white, looking nervous and innocent had strands of had fallen out of her ponytail and into her face. Neji, dressed in all black had an emotionless expression on his face as he glared across the circle at his cousin.

They both had runes drawn on their faces in blood. On Hinata, they merely made her look purer, as if she was trying to remain innocent in a world of corruption. But on Neji's face, the bloody runes made him look darker, as if he wore the blood of other's on his face with pride.

When they started the appropriate motions, it merely magnified their differences. Hinata fumbled and almost messed up many times, and was biting her lower lip nervously with a slight look of fear on her face. Neji performed all of his motions perfectly with a grace that made all of them flow together so that you could not tell when one series stopped and another began.

As they moved, their motions slowly sped up so that it was almost unnoticeable. At the same time, both children started to gather chakra into their hands, making them nothing but blue blurs to Hiashi's watchful eyes.

At the exact same moment, they both stopped. They lifted their heads, and met each other's eyes, their individual chakras flaring around them, Hinata's ponytail was long gone, leaving her hair to fly around her face, yet she did not break her eye contact with her cousin. This was the crucial moment. Here she could not afford to mess up.

No one said a word. There was no battle cry or jutsu name that had to be called in order for this to work. It was all about concentration, and chakra control.

And then it started.

Hiashi watched with fascination as the chakra around Neji calmed. The veins around his eyes tensed, as if he was using the Byakugan but when Neji opened his eyes Hiashi was surprised to see that instead of the usual Byakugan eyes he expected to see, Neji's eyes were glowing. His chakra blue eyes stared deep into his cousins and became brighter and brighter until they were painful to look at, yet Hinata did not break eye contact, it seemed as if she was frozen in place unable to look away.

Quickly, Hiashi activated his own Byakugan and was able to see what was happening. All of the chakra that had been flying around Neji earlier was being condensed and shoved into his eyes. Slowly, the chakra continued to build up until all of the excess chakra that Neji had collected was in his eyes. For a normal person, having so much chakra focused into one area could be fatal, but for a Hyuuga, it was a mere annoyance.

Then, when he was no longer able to focus chakra into his eyes, Neji focused on a new destination for all of the chakra that had built up to go, straight into Hinata's waiting Byakugan eyes. Hiashi watched in fascination as the stream of chakra used his daughter's Byakugan as a door and traveled straight into her body. He watched as it flowed to all of the tenketsu, flaring out and making her chakra path's wider, clearer, and stronger.

Finally, all of her chakra paths were cleared of any blocks and were left stronger than maybe even his own. Yet, the flow of chakra continued to travel into her eyes. Hiashi watched horrified, yet oddly pleased at the same time, as the incoming chakra, which had no where to go, started to burn through areas with no chakra path at all. His daughter would be powerful, for she would have more tenketsu and chakra than any Hyuuga that had ever lived.

And it was all thanks to him.

Polls

Naru/Hinata- 36

Naru/Kyuubi- 28

Naru/Kin- 11

Naru/Ino- 12

Naru/Tenten- 3

Naru/Tayuya- 1

Naru/Anko- 1

None- 3

All right! Looks like Naru/Hina is winning, but Kyuubi's right on her tail! Please review and I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! Just out of curiosity, how many people skipped past the Naruto parts to read about the ritual? Review and tell me!

With loads of thanks for your patience,

Nobodykaires


	10. New and Improved?

A Kitsune Riding on my Shoulder

gives a wonderful speech about why there was such a long wait that actually sounds true and doesn't involve procrastination in any way shape and/or form and that's why it took so long…. I'm so sorry everybody!

Naruto slipped back into the apartment that he shared with his two guardian ANBUs and immediately hurried to the bathroom. Katsu looked up absently when he heard the door close and gave Naruto's shuffling jog a speculative look. The young boy was running sideways with one hand behind his back, his head turned so he was facing his right, and shuffling with one of his legs hidden behind the other. Needless to say, Katsu's curiosity was peaked.

"Oi Naruto-kun, where have you been?" he asked nonchalantly without looking up from the newspaper he was reading. Naruto's head jerked up at the sudden voice, before quickly twitching back into its original position, but not before Katsu saw what he was trying to hide.

"Oh, umm…. Kiba and Chouji wanted to hang out together today cause we don't really know each other cause we just met at the academy and so we decided to do some bonding with each other and you know, just hang out sometime when we weren't at the academy so that we could have fun and…… bond?" Naruto replied nervously, not realizing that he was rambling until Katsu looked up from his newspaper with a knowing look.

"Really?" Katsu asked, keeping up the nonchalant charade and enjoying the way the small boy squirmed under his scrutiny. "What kind of hanging out did you do in order to get that smudge of blue paint on your cheek?" He asked, fighting to keep from smirking at how utterly _guilty_ the poor kid looked.

"Uhh…." Naruto froze for a couple seconds, his mind going into overdrive while he tried to think of a plausible excuse despite already being caught red-handed, so to say. "We were painting pretty pictures with Kiba's paint set?" He finished lamely, hoping that Katsu would fall for his pathetic excuse.

"Would you like to show me the picture you painted Naruto?" Katsu asked, finally allowing himself a small, confident smirk. Naruto looked down at the floor nervously and started playing with the hem of his shirt distractedly while his little mind worked furiously.

"Uh….. I left mine at Kiba's to dry!" He nodded his head furiously as if he could convince Katsu of the truth of his story by will alone. "I'm gonna go clean up now! Kay, bye!" And with that he ran into the bathroom, giving Katsu a clear view of what he had been trying to hide before. There was another streak of paint on the arm of his sleeve and his right foot was trailing paint as if he'd stepped in a puddle of it and not wiped his feet off.

Katsu just shook his head ruefully, grinning at the poor, innocent, little, naive, unfortunate, hapless, mischievous…. He shook his head, getting back on track. That poor kid, Ichiro was going to kill him when he got back.

(break)

The first thing Hinata realized when she woke up was that it was already dark outside. The second thing she realized was that she was in pain. Lots of pain. She felt as if someone had cheerfully carved tattoos and designs on every muscle in her body with a _kunai_. She, admittedly stupidly, tried to sit up and get her surroundings, when every inch of her body flared up with even more pain, making her collapse back onto the bed, gasping painfully.

"I see that you are awake, Hinata-sama" A cold voice commented from off to the side somewhere. Hinata slowly turned her head, ignoring the pain, toward the source of the voice, but was unable to locate exactly where he stood. She mentally cursed the darkness that was clouding her vision; she wanted to know if he was hurt dammit!

"Ne..." She broke off into hacking coughs and she reflexively covered her mouth with her hand and tried to stifle the painful coughs. When she pulled her hand away it was wet with what she realized must be blood. She wiped it off on her blanket it, trying not to think about what it meant and tried to finish what she was saying "nii-san…."

"Hiashi-sama is worried about his young heiress" Neji said in his monotonous voice, uncaring about how sick she truly was. "He sent me to watch over her until she woke up, at which point I am to tell her to get ready for her new lessons. Once she is ready for her new lessons I am to escort her to the dojo and instruct her in her first lesson" He spoke as if he was not referring to the girl in front of him, as if he was not even talking about a human, but rather, a pet that he was forced to watch over.

Halfway through Neji's little speech Hinata broke into another coughing fit that wracked through her entire body. Even after the coughing stopped her muscles continued twitching in remembered pain. She looked in Neji's direction unable to believe that he was planning on training her while she was in this state and also…….

"Demo, n-nii-san……. Do we really……" she looked away, feeling like she was being a whinny baby again, but could feel Neji's eyes on her and knew that know she had to finish her question, no matter if it sounded like she was complaining. "c-can't we….. wait till…. Morning?" she whispered hesitantly.

Neji didn't miss a beat at Hinata's strange question and merely grunted the affirmative. "Hinata-sama was out longer than anyone expected. We will have Hinata-sama's training session tomorrow morning" And then he was gone. Hinata let her head fall back on her bed, already exhausted and before she could wonder about her cousin's odd behavior she was back in the world of dreams.

(break)

Naruto exited the bathroom with one red cheek and one normal one. Likewise the left arm of his shirt looked normal, but the right sleeve had a blue stain and he had had only one shoe on, since he had left the other shoe in a sink full of water, hoping that the stain would go away if he left it there long enough. Ichiro had gotten back sometime while he was in the bathroom and looked ready to burst from excitement.

"Ohayo Ichiro!" Naruto called out, cheerfully bouncing into the kitchen where Ichiro was trying to cook lunch while Katsu got in the way and looted around in the fridge, merely to enjoy the knowledge that he was annoying the other. Ichiro spun around quickly when Naruto entered the room, and looked almost ready to start bouncing around the room himself.

"I've got a surprise for you Naruto-kun!" Ichiro squealed while waving his arms around in the air excitedly, earning him a worried look from Katsu and a worshipping look from the young bundle of energy in front of him.

"What'd you get Ichiro! Can I see it now? Pretty pretty please? I promise I'll be good with it!" The little boy got more worked up the longer he waited and started bouncing around in circle around the table before finally stopping in front of Ichiro and giving him a puppy dog look, still bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly.

Ichiro laughed good-naturedly and ruffled Naruto's hair at his enthusiasm. "Of course you can have it Naruto-kun!" He reassured before practically running out of the room to fetch his surprise. When he came jogging back into the room he had both his hands behind his back and he grin had (if possible) grown even larger.

With a flourish, and a small, harmless, smoke bomb to make things look cooler, Ichiro pulled his surprise from behind his back and held it in front of him, proud of his great idea. Naruto bouncing stopped immediately when he saw what Ichiro held in his arms.

It was Neko-chan, but she was different. The blue bow that she had worn around her neck was gone and she had a huge pink bow on top of her head instead. The stain that she used to have on her right foot was gone, and the tear that had been leaking stuffing out Neko-chan's left cheek had been sewn up.

Naruto stared at the new and improved Neko-chan for a couple seconds, trying to wrap his mind around the _huge pink bow. _ He hesitantly stepped forward and at Ichiro's anxious expression smiled and commented on how absolutely wonderful Neko-chan looked and wasn't Ichiro the most thoughtful person Naruto had ever met? He then proceeded to grab Neko-chan from Ichiro's hand and run back to his room to look at the damage.

**"But Kagie!" **Neko-chan slurred distractedly, causing Naruto to give her a worried look **"I don't care….. pink frogs? Why can't we just…….ice cream and…… Why are the devil duckies always trying to steal my soul!" **The last sentence was the only thing that Naruto could actually make sense from and it scared him how out of it his Neko-chan sounded. It couldn't be permanent…… could it?

(end)

Okay, I'm deciding to end the voting for pairing from hence forth and onward. Please, feel free to review telling me why you think Naruto should be with insert name here. I'm just not gonna tally them up anymore and let the story choose the pairings, but I am horribly easily influenced (hint: long reviews)

Uh, also, in case you didn't notice, this chapter has not been beta-ed and hopefully isn't too bad…. sweatdrop my beta's been really swamped lately and I don't really wanna bother him…. Anyone else wanna beta my story? attempts a puppy dog look and fails horribly


	11. Eyes of a Demon

A Kitsune Riding on my Shoulder

Alright, I know it's short, and I know it took forever and yet not as long as the last forever I took, but life's been crazy busy so….. worship the ground I stand on!... or just review………. Either of them will help my plans for world domination shrug

(story start)

Neji brushed past another branch member that dared to not move out of his way immediately. He paused in his half run, half elegant stroll to turn and glare at the man old enough to be his father coolly. Said man only had to look into Neji's cold, emotionless eyes before he realized his mistake. He bowed so low his forehead touched the floor.

"I apologize for my mistake, next time I will remember to stay out of your way when you are in a hurry." He glanced up anioxsly to see if his apology had placated the angry eyes that had scared him into humility, but only saw his back as the young boy continued on his path, completely ignoring the old branch member who couldn't help but wonder if the Uzumaki kid was the only demon currently residing in Konoha.

Neji rapped smartly on the door to Hiashi's office and waited for a response. He could hear Hiashi shuffling around papers on his desk through the thin doors, purposefully making Neji wait outside for no reason other than that he could.

Neji stood unmoving outside the office for several minutes before Hiashi finally decided to call him in. Neji opened the door and in one smooth motion slipped, closed the door before him, and knelt down in front of Hiashi's desk to wait even longer to be acknowledged so that he could report his news.

Hiashi slowly stood up from his desk and walked over to where Neji remained kneeling with his posture submissive and his face tilted toward the ground. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and exaimined his tenketsu and chakra coils.

Neji clenched his hand at his side while his uncle observed him like a scientist observes a rat after experimenting on it. He barely resisted the urge to leap to his feet and punch his uncle when he started probing him experimentaly, humming to himself slightly in thought. Hiashi walked around and stopped in front of Neji tilting his head up, he looked deep into his eyes.

"Very interesting. I'll have to write about the side effects suffered from the chakra supplier, they were very vague in the old documents I read." He let go of Neji's head disdainfully and walked back to his desk to jot down some notes on a piece of paper. "Have you been feeling any different then usual lately?" He asked, glancing up at Neji to gauge his response.

"Not yet Hiasi-sama. I have refrained from using the Byakugan since the energy transfer and have not felt any side effects" Neji didn't bother to mention how his eyes continued to ache even hours after the transfer, that was merely due to his own weakness and was not worth bringing to Hiashi's attention.

"Yes, you may have trouble using the Byakugan for a while after the transfer" Hiashi told Neji absently, "But the eyes… who would have thought that would happen? No, it can't be permanent…." Neji didn't say anything in response to Hiashi's questions because they were not being addressed directly to him and a branch member never spoke in the presence of the Head of the clan unless he asked it of them.

Hiashi glanced up at Neji, seeming to realize that he was still in the room. He locked eyes with Neji for a second and seemed to get lost in his thoughts again, looking deep into his nephiew's eyes as if they held the answers to all his questions. Then, he shook his head, coming back to his senses and refocused his attention on the papers in front of him. "You are dismissed for now." His voice sounded troubled as he looked over his papers once again.

"But Hiashi-sama" Neji ventured. Hiashi had gone off on some random tangent and he hadn't been able to tell him the important news yet. His punishment for not telling Hiashi would certainly be worse than talking without permission. But Hiashi would not have it. He slammed one hand on his desk and glared at the young boy in front of him.

"I said you are dismissed branch member, or is hearing loss another of the side effects of the ritual we performed earlier today?" His voice had an angry edge to it that said he would not hesitate to punish the boy in front of him if he continued to be so disrespectful. Neji merely bowed and backed out of the room, without turning his back to his uncle and slid the door closed behind him.

Neji slumped his shoulders once he was out of his uncle's office before going over what he had heard while he was in there. Why had his uncle been so interested in his eyes? Sure, they still ached somewhat, but surely his uncle could not tell that merely by looking at them. His eyes took this chance to send a lance of pain that made his vision go white. He steadied himself on the wall behind him and slid to the ground, the pain becoming overwhelming.

What could be causing his eyes so much pain? It was worse than the time when he had used the Byakugan excessively and suffered from a mild burn on his tenketsu. Which was much the same as a regular burn, but could only happen if someone had chakra flow through their tenketsu too many times in a certain period of time.

Curiosity peaked, Neji ran off to his room to look at his eyes in the mirror, glaring at anyone that looked at him and daring them to comment on his rush.

He slammed open the door to his room and rushed over to his dresser, shoving off anything in his way until he found his rarely used mirror. Dusting it off on his sleeve he closed his eyes for a second, preparing himself for what he would see in his reflection.

The mirror fell from his hands and shattered on the ground at his feet, but Neji didn't even notice. All he could see were those eyes, _his eyes, _staring back at him, straight into his soul.

(break)

"Naruto!" Ichiro called from the kitchen banging his spatula on the pot he was cooking in to ensure he had the boy's attention, "Lunch is ready, eat now or not at all!" At the word lunch Naruto fled from his bedroom and scooted into his chair at the table in record time. Ichiro smiled at his enthusiasm before frowning lightly as he noticed something, "Naruto, why didn't you brink Neko-chan?" He couldn't remember the last time he saw the boy without his stuffed toy willingly. It had taken him weeks to get it away from Naruto so he could fix it up.

Naruto's eyes followed the pot that Ichiro was cooking in as the ANBU took it from the stove to the table and started to put some on the plates that were set out for them. When he realized Ichiro was looking at him expectantly his mind rewound and he did some quick thinking. "uhh…. Could you repeat that?" He asked innocently switching his attention from the food in front of him.

"Where's Neko-chan Naruto?" Ichiro repeated patiently looking at the boy worried.

"Oh! She's not feeling good right now…" Naruto informed his guardian a tiny frown of worry on his young face, "I think she might have the chicken pox." He ventured, trying to sound professional. He wasn't really sure what chicken pox was, but he had heard someone talking about it and they didn't sound happy, so it had to be something bad…… right?

Ichiro gave Naruto a doubtful look, "I'm not so sure that cat's can get chicken pox Naruto." He explained kindly. "But, if you want, I can take a look at her and see what's wrong." Naruto immediately brightened at the thought and tackled Ichiro in a bear hug.

"Thank you so much Ichiro! I was getting really worried about her! She can't talk in full sentences and her eyes are all swirly, like she's dizzy or something, but I don't know why she could be dizzy…." Naruto trailed off looking worried about his best friend.

"Oh, that's an easy one Naruto." Ichiro explained as he sat down at the table to eat his lunch. "When I was cleaning up Neko-chan for you, I put her in the washer so that she could get clean, and then in the dryer after that, so she's probably a little disoriented after that experience." Ichiro and Katsu were both used to talking with Naruto as if Neko-chan was a real person, the Hokage told them that it was just a stage Naruto was going through after being in isolation for so long, and that after he made some friends at the academy he would begin to be less dependant on the stuffed animal. But, until then they had to nourish Naruto's imagination and treat Neko-chan as part of the family.

Naruto's appetite quickly returned after he was reassured that nothing was wrong with his best friend and he attacked the food in front of him with more vigor than Ichiro had seen in a while and the food was gone in seconds. When he was done, Naruto jumped up out of his chair and ran to the door, but was stopped by Ichiro's voice.

"Where do you think you're going Naruto-kun?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice that made a chill run down Naruto's spine.

"uhhh…. To nurse Neko-chan back to health?" Naruto ventured shifting from foot to foot nervously. But Ichiro only gave him a disapproving look that made him bow his head as he remembered something he had promised his guardian.

"You said that if I didn't bother you about your homework on Friday or Saturday that you would do it on today." Here Ichiro gave the backpack stuffed with papers a significant look, "I'd get started if I were you. Even starting this early it could take you until late at night and you'll have to get up early tomorrow if you want to get to the academy on time."

Naruto gave a defeated sigh and lugged the backpack stuffed with worksheets to his room to work on, grumbling about slave driving guardians and how carrying their backpack to and from the academy was probably part of their physical training because it weighed so much.

Naruto collapsed onto the floor in his bedroom and dumped the contents of his backpack onto the floor in front of him. He grabbed Neko-chan from her perch on his bed and set her next to him, presumably to help him with his work if she was feeling well enough.

Grabbing a random piece of paper from the mountain in front of him Naruto gave it a once over before glancing at his stuffed friend, "Neko-chan, what is chakra?"

"**Waffles. With peanut butter filling and exploding scrolls inside that tell you your fortune when you break them in half." **His stuffed animal answered, sounding not quite right, but Naruto figured that the fact that she was forming full sentences was a good sign and decided to take her word for it and quickly jotted it down her answer in the provided blank space.

"Alright, next question. What's a shuriken?" he asked his most trusted friend while chewing on his eraser. Neko-chan giggled insanely at this question, earning her a funny look from her companion. She cleared her throat embarrassedly and answered his question.

"**They're those egg rolls you can get at the BBQ. You know, the ones that are deep fried and dipped in sweet and sour sauce. I always enjoyed them with a side dish of kunai, those little candy dumplings that are filled with grape jam and artichokes."** Neko-chan answered with a distant look in her eyes.

"Great! That answers the next question too!" Naruto cried out happily while scribbling down the questionable answers he was receiving from his friend, "What is a kunai, candy dumpling with grape jam and….. ardychokes? Perfect!"

(final break)


End file.
